How and Why Jefferson’s Original Draft for the Declaration of Independence was changed to the accepted version. In order for the Declaration of Independence to be adopted it required a unanimous vote. In order to get that unanimous vote Jefferson had to compromise over the mention of slavery and other controversial topics in the document. The second section of the Declaration of Independence, following the introduction, Jefferson writes everything King George has done that has infringed on the colonists rights. In this section there is a specific line the delegates from the southern colonies did not agree with.
An Analysis of The Declaration of Independence Stephen King says, “To write is human, to edit is divine.” Mr. King’s claim carries considerable weight for many, engendering an angelic sense of duty to the written word. This duty was felt most strongly during the American revolution, with every word eliciting the potential for the boom of a thousand cannons. It was at this crucial turning point in American history that Thomas Jefferson was tasked with writing the Declaration of Independence, arguably one of the most influential documents in history. The changes made to the draft of the Declaration regarding capitalization, for emphasis, and the deletion and modification of specific words and phrases, for inspiring a sense of unity, create synergy,
Randall states “He believed that all men and women had been created equal and he considered blacks as MEN--he had capitalized the word in the clause in the Declaration of Independence that had been stricken by the Second Continental Congress” (592). Jefferson’s slave clause was only defeated by one vote, and according to Allison he wanted slaves gone by 1800 (114). Aaron Schwabach who wrote “Thomas Jefferson, Slavery, Slaves.” said that by January 1, 1808 all states with except for South Carolina, slaves became illegal. Jefferson did not take the changes well, he became disappointed by the slavery part getting turned down (277). Jefferson also states that it is the King’s fault for the slave trade going on for seven years, he is the one who started it, he blames him (Randall 212).
The document was introduced into the Virginia General Assembly in 1779, declared freedom of religion a “natural right that became a model for the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. President Jefferson doubled the size of the United States after purchasing over 8000,000 square miles of Louisiana Territory, from France at the cost of 15 billion dollars, could you imagine what the United States would be or not be if he would not have made that wise purchase. Thomas Jefferson went against his Republican views of strict interpretation of the constitution and bypassed the senate to purchase the Louisiana Territory. Thomas Jefferson was a great writer , but not skilled at public speaking. Writing the Declaration of Independence not only made Thomas Jefferson famous, but it displayed what a great writer he was, as well as made many feel he was a hypocrite.
Influence of the Declaration of Independence on The Constitution The Declaration of Independence was written by the founding fathers (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington) of America to disunify from the power of George III, the British king. While under the domination of Britain, America felt like their rights were being contravened. Using the grievances they endured from the king, America created a constitution that protected the rights they felt that they never had. Overall,The Declaration of Independence set a pavement for the Constitution. The Founding Fathers felt that the only way to correct the dereliction they felt they suffered from the king, was to
Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of the Declaration, was the second colonist to rewrite Virginia’s Declaration of Rights, and create the Declaration of Independence. Even though Jefferson owned his own slaves as well, and was not completely opposed to buying and owning slaves, he also envisioned of a society that was free and equal for everyone. That conflict left the Declaration of Independence difficult for Jefferson to write because he wanted to create a Declaration that satisfied both antislavery colonies and proslavery colonies. The two goals that Jefferson was trying to reach when he wrote the second Declaration was to justify the independence from the British rule, and to create an image for a new nation. He envisioned a new nation as one with democracy, political rights, justice, and full citizenship for all.
The American War of Independence, better known today as the Revolutionary War, happened between 1775 and 1783. The initial goal in this was to defeat the British after tensions rose because they wanted to raise revenue by taxation in the colonies. In response, the colonies wanted independence from Great Britain. Of course, this was a trigger to the overall war and how it truly all began. The battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill is where we get into the conversation of black Americans’ engagement in the Revolutionary War.
The reason why Thomas Jefferson decided to take this action was for the American colonists to proclaim freedom from him. For several years the American colonists had been oppressed when this vital document was scripted. Great Britain’s King had pushed the colonists into a state of tyranny and most decided it was time to start an independent nation under a different type of government. When drafting the Declaration, Jefferson had not only the people of America on his mind, he wanted King George III and the British parliament to know feelings of the colonists and world. It was time for change and Jefferson ensured that the whole world knew by utilizing his greater policies of
The American Revolution, a war fought between the American Colonies and England was a war of independence and was stemmed from acts of rebellion, eventually leading to violence. While American victory was the birth of our country and freedom, this revolution was hardly revolutionary at all. For many white men, it was a new beginning with many open doors ahead. But those doors would remain shut for women and their rights, Native Americans and African Americans in this new independent country.
In a few days, Jefferson created the document that changed American lives forever. He created the Declaration of Independence. The document first starts off as with the preamble. The preamble states, “We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”.
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson described slavery against the rights that they had as an example of life and liberty. Now when there was a situation about a slave people treated them as their rights wasn't the same as theirs. I agree with having the Declaration of Independence so that people would like there is hope for a change when it came to
I believe the Declaration of Independence does uphold the principles most of the time. I say this because there 's some things that have happened, or is happening, which causes it to not uphold it all the time. Most of the time it does hold up, with having laws and other things. “All men are created equal.” is a principle of the Declaration.
Thomas Jefferson wrote this document that the declared the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were no longer under British rules. The colonies became independent states. Their purpose was to create an ideological nation because in an ideological nation the people and the government are hold together by a set of ideas. The solution that the Declaration of independence declared that all people have inalienable rights, requiring life, liberty, and
Many of us know that the intention of the declaration was to tell the King of England his transgressions against the colonies, and why the colonies wanted to break off from England. In both drafts Jefferson goes on to say how the king taxes the colonies without representation or allowing British soldiers to live in in a civilian's house just because. One thing that Jefferson mentions in the original draft that the greatest sin the crown has done to the colonies is slavery. Jefferson states,” He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither.”.
The words of Thomas Jefferson from the Declaration of Independence marked the beginning of a nation, and the birth of the United States of America. The basis of the Declaration was based on the idea of freedom, where “all men are created equal.” However, by today’s standards, the Declaration of Independence has many controversial points. One of them concerns the topic over slavery, where there have been many disagreements between the current interpretations and the views of our founding fathers hundreds of years ago. Many have argued that hypocrisy evidently exists in the words written in the Declaration.
